Category: Film Previews

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Synopsis:

From IMDb: “During an adventure into a dark criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion.”

Poster Rating: C+ (4)

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: (#1-#4) These character posters have a nice color scheme within the lettering, but the rest of the poster design isn’t terribly flattering.

Trailer Rating: C

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: I guess if you have a built-in audience, you don’t need to make a trailer that excites it. They just have to hear a wookie yell, see a Millennium Falcon and hope that it will turn out better than the trailer makes it look. Everything about this looks as if the studio is trying way too hard to mask some major failings with the film and it could be that there isn’t much of a plot, even if the music and structure make this seem like an opportunity for a Star Wars meets film noir concept.

Oscar Prospects:

All of the Star Wars films should be considered Oscar contenders, though the off-trilogy ones don’t seem to be doing that well, so this one might not.

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Poster Rating: D+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: If you recognize the Venom eyes, this poster will be somewhat exciting to you. For everyone else, it’s utterly dull.

Trailer Rating: C+

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: It’s just a teaser, so it’s no surprise that there’s not enough detail being presented, but as it stands now, it looks like a second-rate comic book adaptation rather than a major motion picture.

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Release Date:

March 30, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A teenager gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and befriends the fading racehorse, Lean on Pete.”

Poster Rating: D / C+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: (#1) A dirty boy and his horse. Not exactly the kind of design that sells tickets. (#2) It’s a lovely sunset design that captures the beauty of nature, which makes it a more visually pleasing design, but it still isn’t sufficient to really get people interested in the film.

Trailer Rating: B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: The trailer presents what amounts to a seemingly rote narrative, though there are some nice touches about family, love, and disappointment to possibly make it a solid performer on the indie circuit.

Oscar Prospects:

It was thought to be an Oscar contender when it was first screened, but has been delayed, which suggests that the film wont’ be heavily pushed.

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Release Date:

March 2, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A troubled family face the facts when something goes terribly wrong at their son’s desolate military post.”

Poster Rating: C+ / C

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: (#1) This image has always appeared to me to be this soldier making love to his gun. The trailer doesn’t entirely disabuse me of that notion, though whether it’s the best of advertising tools for the film is a question that’s probably best answered “no.” (#2) This looks more like something that would accompany a superhero film than an Israeli drama. Either that or a design for a war film, which this somewhat is.

Trailer Rating: B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: The trailer is odd enough that it could pick up some viewers as a result, but while the film does look like something Federico Fellini might have dreamed up, it doesn’t have feel quite interesting enough.

Oscar Prospects:

It was submitted for Best Foreign Language Film and made the shortlist, but was not nominated, so its Oscar chances are pretty much done.

Advance ticket sales have been robust and the film has been generating the kind of buzz that a Star Wars film might. That will undoubtedly propel it to an easy number one finish. It could also mean that the film, which has no real competition for months, could put up the kind of box office numbers often reserved for Avengers movies, possibly even as high as one of the one-off Star Wars films.

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Release Date:

March 9, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A family staying in a secluded mobile home park for the night are visited by three masked psychopaths, to test their every limit.”

Poster Rating: D / C

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: (#1) Scratched up, painted on, and dull as dishwater. (#2) Those familiar with the first film should be enticed by this poster, but it’s not really that visually impressive.

Trailer Rating: B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: There are some hokey elements in the trailer, but the overall structure suggests a film that appreciates its genre origins while it tries to be something unique. Whether it succeeds is questionable based on this trailer.

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(February 4, 2018) Original

Release Date:

February 9, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Noah spends the perfect first night with Avery, the girl of his dreams, but gets relegated to the friend zone. He spends the next three years wondering what went wrong – until he gets the unexpected chance to travel back in time and alter that night – and his fate – over and over again.”

Poster Rating: C-

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: This dull design has a cheap, fake background, a corny tagline and a generic layout that isn’t particularly compelling.

Trailer Rating: C

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: In the era of #MeToo, the concept here seems immeasurably tone deaf. While they don’t reference the “Friend Zone,” the concept is on display and setting up a story where the guy goes to great lengths to change the relationship he wanted, but couldn’t achieve, is a remarkably poor choice. Maybe the film eventually has the lovable loser lose out and accept it, but more than likely, he wins in the end, which means we lose.

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Release Date:

February 16, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A lonely woman living in Tokyo decides to take an English class where she discovers her alter ego, Lucy.”

Poster Rating: C- / C- / C

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: (#1) It’s simple, but not particularly eye-catching or memorable. (#2) When you see this within the context of the film/trailer, it makes a bit of sense, but otherwise feels very racist. (#3) Some nice pops of color don’t make up for the awful white background.

Trailer Rating: C+

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: The trailer looks like it was cut together with a pair of pinking shears rather than a surgically precise instrument. The content is interesting enough to possibly entice a handful of cinemagoers, but is otherwise dispassionate.

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(February 11, 2018) Original

Release Date:

February 16, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “When a series of unusual murders occurs, Detective K (KIM Myung-min) and his partner (OH Dal-soo) are once again called into action as they discover a trail of bodies with mysterious bite marks.”

Poster Rating: C- / D+ (5)

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: (#1) As cheaply staged as this design is, it certainly looks more interesting than the ones that came after it, but not by much considering they all seem to use the same visual style. (#2-#6) The ugly backdrops, clashing colors, and stiff poses just make this series of character posters ugly.

Trailer Rating: C-

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: A dreadful look at what appears to be a cheaply made third film in a South Korean film series. What is put forward as humor is dull and what’s put together as adventurous is a bit lifeless.

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Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A young woman is forced to reflect on her first relationship when she inadvertently moves into her ex-boyfriend’s apartment building.”

Poster Rating: D+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: A generic, uninspiring poster that doesn’t add stylistic or visual distinctiveness worthy of recognition.

Trailer Rating: C

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: As if the poster weren’t generic enough, the trailer is equally generic, following a standard flow for indie romantic comedies that fails to show any new or interesting details or trajectories of that type of narrative.

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Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution, where she is confronted by her greatest fear–but is it real or a product of her delusion?”

Poster Rating: C

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: The design is visually disconcerting, but not enough to make it that inventive, original, or enticing.

Trailer Rating: B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: While the audience will spend the first half of the trailer hoping for this stalked woman to get some peace, the second half upends the conversation and makes us question whether she is genuinely sane or if her stalker is somehow manipulating her life and the lives of those around her. Steven Soderbergh hasn’t looked this fascinating in some time.

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(February 4, 2018) Original

Release Date:

July 6, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “In the aftermath of ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ Scott Lang grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. As he struggles to re-balance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from their past.”

Poster Rating: D

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOWReview: The concept isn’t unfamiliar as the original film did the same thing with one of its designs. So did Downsizing last year. Yet, this is still a weak design thanks to so much blank space. Wouldn’t it have been more fascinating if they had put Ant-Man and The Wasp into the poster somewhere in a big city and you had to play “Where’s Ant-Man?”

Trailer Rating: B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOWReview: A lot of interesting effects here for a teaser that doesn’t seem to know how to give details. There are some hints that The Wasp will be stinging Ant-Man for leaving her out, so this could have some interesting implications. Or it could be an unfortunate tease that means nothing.

Oscar Prospects:

Visual Effects could be a possibility, but if the first film couldn’t manage that, I don’t know that the sequel could.